Refrigerator structure



Dec. 31, 1935.

BY ma' W Dec. 3l, 1935. L. G. COPEMAN Re. 19,798

REFRIGERATOR STRUCTURE original Filed Dec. 25, 1933 5 sheets-sheet 2 INVENTOR.

u @en 1.705161 6T Cope/nan ATTORNEYS.

mma/MMM Dec. 3l, 1935.

L. G. COPEMAN REFRIGERATOR STRUCTURE Original Filed DSC. 25. 1955 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 Eig-7 gig. a

INVENTOR. lloyd 6v (bpeman A TTORNEYS Dec. 31, 1935. L. G. COPEMAN Re. 19,798

REFRIGERATOR STRUCTURE Original Filed Deo. 23. 1933 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 1 za T2911 i6 1- Z7 zyj 1; .9 iflnum F1915 BYE /I 152 Z* A TTORNEYS L. G. COPEMAN Re. 19,798 REFRIGERATOR STRUCTURE Original Filed Dec. 23, 1933 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 INVENTOR. Lloyd Copeman ATTORNEYS Reissucd Dec. 3l, 1935 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE December 23, 1933.

Application for re!ssue November 7. 1935;. Serial No. 48.715 l Claims. (Cl. 62-89) This invention has to do with refrigerator structure. and more particularly with food chamber structure making it possible to locate and pack more foodstuffs adjacent the bottom cooler portion of the food chamber.

The design and arrangement of shelves in the food compartments of domestic refrigerators have for some long time presented quite a problem. This is particularly true of the smaller boxes,

V, say. from three and one-half to nve cubic feet. and even more so where the refrigerating mechanism is contained within the domestic refrigerator cabinet. To give the idea that the food compartment is of relatively large capacity. the

5 shelves, in recent years. have been positioned each other. making it dlflicult not only objects at the rear of the shelves. but' it impomble to piace larger cbitthetw'een the shelves.

:0 It is all `bleotof the present invention to materiallyfincrease both the shelf capacity and the Y eifectlelcubic storage capacity of the food chamadomestic refrigerator and to accomplish insucha manner as to make it 1a paekmorefoodstuileowards the' -the food compartment. 'lhere,.n iust .`of'necessity. be circulation of the aircunentrwithln the air compartment. and onej features'of the present invention is :o thejabilityto place food stuffs which former!! wouldhavezto be placed upon come of the upper shelves, lower portion of the food compa-rtment sogas to have the benent of the eoolerair currents.

:s .non cpednlly. i: n an obiect o: the-'present man - invention-'tarmac n mucous n sneu betweenjitwo Vnormal, flxedly positioned shelves. uid adjustable .neng extending les across the food compart- 40 ment.; t,hus making it possibi to fili the space between .the two fixed shelves with larger objects or toA placelaree obi'ects at one side 'of said space and two layers of smaller obiects at the other side of said space: or, in the event that two vertically adm-Stable hall" shelves are'used. to obtain substantially any arrangement desired.

' Another obiect oi the invention is to provide half shelves which may be easily ustable ver tically with a single hand. it possible to easily reach and adjust the half shell while holding one or more artlcles'in the other hand.

Other features. including various arrang ments of haii shelves. the manner of slidably positioning the same in the food compartment wall or supported from flxedly positioned shelves. the

manner of nesting the half shelf inside the ilxed shelf when not in use, and other details of construction and arrangement will be more clearly set forth in the specicatlon and claims.

In the drawings: 5

Fig. l is a perspective view of a domestic refrigerator cabinet embodying three half shelves in accordance with the present invention.

Figs. 2. 3 and 4 are fragmentary elevations of one manner of supporting vertically adiustahle 10 full or half shelves from xedly positioned shelves.

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary pian view taken on line t--i of Fig. 3.

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary sectional view taken on 15 line 6-6 of Fig. 6a, showing one manner of controlling the vertical adjustment of the shelf from the front of the food compartment.

Fig. 6a is a fragmentary plan view, partly broken away. showing' the manner of slidably' 20 sup the shelf afi'd the means for controlling the vertical adjustment.

Fig. 6b is a fragmentary sectional view taken onllnetb-Cbofl'18.6m

Fig. 'I is a diagrammatic view illus 25 mung a. combinano or positioned mn shelvesandadiustablehalflshelv.

'gigJisaviewsimila'rtollglbntshowlnga t 'lof a food chamber` .ecilivpedcompletelywithverticallyadiustablew -`1l=i.-9isaplanvlevl'oilamorliiledarrax'igemseut ofhalfshelfwhereinsaidahelfisposltionedat oneofthefrontcornerioftbefoodcoxnparhnent topermltlateralswinslnainadditiontov'ertlcalss ng. 1o n su enlarged namento-y detail view illustrating a-half therefor mounted upon two n xedfshelves. A

Fig.ll is sectional view taken'on line il-Il 4o of Fig. l0.

Fig. i2 is a detail sectional view taken on line i-I! of Fig. l0.

Fig. 13 is a fragmentary sectional view taken on line IS-il of Fig. 12. 45

Fig. 14 is a fragmentary front elevationrof a portion of a food chamber provided with vertically adiustable half shelves.

Fig. l5 is a fragmentary pian view taken on line lS--II o! Fig. 14. Figs. 16 and 17 are fragmentary views taken on line II6 of Fig. l5 and illustrating the cam member in two positions of adjustment.

Fig. i8 is a sectional view taken on line i-ll 0i' Fig. 16. c5

Fig. 19 is a view taken on line I9-l9 0f Fg- 14 illustrating the construction of the lower end of the vertical slide for the half shelves.

In all embodiments 0l the present invention there will be present in the refrigerator 2. such as shown in Fig. l, some form of food compartment 3 having a cooling unit 4 positioned to set up a circulation of air to produce a cooling effect. In the preferred form of the invention. and es somewhat diagrammatically illustrated in Fig. l. there will be permanent shelves 5, 6, and I formed of spaced bars to permit a circultous passageway of air around the food compartment. In between each permanent shelf 5, 6 and 1 I preferably locate vertically adjustable hall' shelves 8. It will be understood that throughout the speclcation and claims where the words halt shelf" are used I am not necessarily refering to a shell which extends just halt way across the lood compartment. but to a shell. which is of somewhat less width than the food compartment so as to permit the placing of at least one large article between permanent shelves.

A vertical support 9, detalls of which will be described later. slldably carries the hal! shelves l soas to permit their easy vertical adjustment. Each shelf. I is slightly smaller in outer contour than the corresponding contour o! the shelf lmmediately above the same. so that ii' each half shell is moved to the limit o! its vertical adjustment. it will be nested within the outer edge ot the iixed shell so that. if the entire space between two nxed shelves ls required for large erticles of food it is. o! course, available.

Referring to the space -between the lixed shel! 1 and the bottom of the food compartment. Fis. 1, it will be seen that large articles or tall articlesmaybeplacedinthespacemarkedA. Apie 0r other relatively flat or a plurality' oi' dat articles may be placed in the space marked B. The

haltshelimaythenbeloweredtoaposition Just above said pie or other relatively dat articles. thusleaving thespaceCtor receiving other relatively small articles compared with those withinthespaceA. Theresultisthatbymeans ottheverisicallyaiiiustablellallslieli'litislwssible to completely 'lill the space between the xedsheli'landthebottomoi'theloodcomnartment withaplurality o! diil'erentsisedarticlesto bceooled. Astheshelvesareallformedoi' spacedbarmitwillbeseenthatthecoldairfrom thecoolingunltwilldropdownandpassoverthe articles-ot food in the space below thesheli' 1. The bottom ofthetood compartment 3.o! necessity, maintained at a llghtlyjower temperature than the rest of the food compartment and by making it posible to greatly increase the capacity oi' the portion o( the food compartment below theshelllitwillbescenthatitispsibleto place more articles of iood inthe cooler sone oi the food compartment.

The adjustable halt shelf l between the fixed shelves i and 1 will make it posible to store a larger quantity of lood between such shelves 'l and I. with the result that the hal! shelves 8 make it ordinarily possible to store substantially the same amount of i'ood ln the lower haii' of the food compartment as was formerly possible to store ln the entire food compartment.

In Figs. 2 to 4 I have illustrated a modified embodiment o! the invention wherein a lixedly positioned shelf ill ls shown provided with a downwardly depending leg ii having serratlons i2 for adjustably supporting a shelf I! by means or the pivoted loop I: and a small leg i5 cooperating with the serrations l2. The shelf Il adjustably supported by the fixedly positioned shelf I0 may extend all the way across the food compartment as s hown in Fig. 2, but preferably only extends part way across. as shown at i3d in Fig. f 4. A half shelf may be supported on each side oi' the lixedly positioned shelf or the fixedly positioned shelf may be provided with an upwardly extending lug ila tor supporting hall shelves both above and below. It will be seen by reIer- 1l ring to Fig. 3, that the vertically adjustable shelves i3 or i3d are nestled within the flxedly positioned shell ill ln their upper position. The transverse bars i6 and i'i on the respective shelves are preferably staggered so as to permit l: substantially complete nesting o! the adjustable shelf within the xedly positioned shelf.

In the modification illustrated in Figs. 6. 6a, and 6b, I have shown a hall shell of the type that may be conveniently used with the standard 20 type of xedly positioned shell. such as shown in Fig. l. Ihe permanent shelves of the type shown at 5, 6 and l in Fig. l may be slightly cut away to receive a vertical slide or guideway l. This guldeway is located on one side wall oi' the rood 25 compartment, preferably about hall' way back from the front edge. The bottom of this guide is apertured at the bottom end as at Il to receive suitable roller members il' carried by an inwardly projecting part 2l ot the halt shelf I. 30 A rubber covered eccentric 2i is carried by the haii' shelf and an actuating rod 22 extends forwardlyofthehall'sheli'soastobereadilyaccessible by one opening the door oi' the refrigera'tor. By moving the eccentric ll clockwise, as 85 viewedinFlg.6.itwillbeseenthatahal!shelf can be moved vertically. up or down. the rollers Il assisting in such easy movement; then by moving the eccentric member clockwise, it will be seen that the hall' shelf is temporarily lo- 40 cated in position: the greater the weight upon the shell. the more rigid will become the friction tit because oi' the eccentric. The edges 2l oi' the hallsheli'aresofabricatcdastoouter dimensions as to nicely nestle within the outer edges 45 :thellxedlypositionedshelfabove thehalf ell'.

Pigs. 'l and 8 illustrate disgrammaucally various Possible arrangements that mais` be obtainedbyusingmyhaltshelves enlirelyorino combination with zcdly positionedA shelves. Half shelves l are shown podiioned on cach side beneaththefulishelitsothelargearticlesmsy be positioned at the lei't and two layers of small articlesattherlght. InsteadptatullshelfL-' as shown in Fig. l. I show twovertically adlustable hall' shelves t so as to provide even further possible arrangements oi' shelving. In Fig. 8 all the shelves lare shown as being vertically positioned hal! shelves l: it being understood that Cil the two sets o! lower shelves on each side would in reality be nestled together. but they are shown slightly separated in the dgure to show that there are two shelves in each set.

In the modincation illustrated in Fig. 9 the C5 half shelf l is shown as being vertically alidable as on s shalt Il. The position of this vertical shaft at the forward comer of the food compartment makes it powble to swing the haii' shelf l to the position shown ln dotted lines. Thus the 'l thumb screw 2l may be loosened to permit adjustment of the haii shell vertically and the half shelf itself may be preferably swung out or back about the pivot shaft 2l whether the thumb screw is tightened or loosened. The manner o! nesting one half shelf within the full shelf is well illustrated in this figure.

Figs. 10 to 13 are enlarged detail modications over the type of shelf structure illustrated in Figs. 2 to 5. In this modification the standarda is clamped at the top and bottom to the fixedly mounted full shelves 6 and l as by-means of clamps 21. A reinforcing piece 23 is secured to the half shelf 8 and a laterally reinforced guide member 29 embraces the standard 2B and is adapted to receive the threaded innera end of an adjusting and clamping rod 30. With this construction it is possible to adapt one or a plurality of half shelves to practically any type of fixedly mounted shelves now in use in domestic refrigerators. By merely reaching in with the hand and unscrewing the member 30 and placing the fingers underneath the half shelf, one can easily raise or lower the shelf and then tighten the same.

A sort of modification between the types of structure shown in Figs. 6 to 6b and l0 to 13 is illustrated in Figs. 14 to 19. In this embodiment I have shown vertically positioned guide members 9 at each side of the food compartment, similar to those disclosed in Figs. 1 to 6, the guide members being open at the bottom as at I3 to receive the guiding member 3i carried by the inner end of a threaded shaft 32; that is, the shaft 32 is threaded through a portion 33 carried by the half shelf 3. 'I'he guide or clamping memoer 3l at the inner end of the rod 32 is generally elliptical in shape, as best shown in Figs. 16 and 1'7. and in the preferred form is made of rubber or similar flexible material. This clamping and guiding member may be slipped into the opening I8 at the bottom of the guide 9 and the half shelf moved to any position desired.

By turning the member 3| vertically to the position shown in Fig. 'l it will be seen that the shelf can be raised and lowered and then clamped into position by further turning of the rod 32 which will cause the ends of the resilient member 3| to contact with the side walls of the guide 9 to frlctionally hold the shelf in position.

It will be seen that in all the modifications ernbodying the half shelves and particularly those illustrated in Figs. i and 14, the half shelves are in direct heat conducting relation with the side walls of the food compartment, that is, either directly through the sliding supports or through the i'ixedly positioned shelves, or otherwise; thus, even though it will be possible to store a plurality of small articles, say, tomatoes, on top of a plurality of other small articles or packages, say, cheese or butter, an increased cooling effect will be obtained in food compartments embodying the present invention because of the direct heat transfer from the article supported by the half shelf, through the half shelf and through the walls of the food compartment. Furthermore, the half shelves add a much greater surface area and a materially greater mass of metal to the food compartment so that, in addition to the increased cooling effect, an added hold-over effect is obtained at all times regardless of whether the half shelves carry food or are nestled within the fixedly positioned shelves.

What I claim is:

l. In combination with a refrigerator of the type having a food compartment, a perforate fixedly mounted shelf extending across the food compartment and spaced from the bottom of the main food compartment to form an auxiliary food compartment to receive articles of fairly large size, a cooling unit positioned in the food compartment for setting up a positive circulation of air in the compartment and through said shelf, a vertically adjustable perforate half shelf positioned beneath said flxedly positioned shelf, said half shelf being substantially dat and including micro-adjustment means for moving said half shelf from a point where said half shelf substantially merges with said fixed shelf to a point where said shelf substantially merges with the horizontal bottom of the food compartment whereby said entire space below the with large articles all the way across or said half shelf may be selectively adjusted to any position above smaller articles supported by the bottom of the food compartment and below the half shelf and thus permit the storing of food between the lowered half shelf and the fixedly mounted shelf to thereby permit filling at all times the entire vertical space tioned shelf and the bottom of the compartment, said half shelf increasing the mass of hold-over material within the food compartment without taking up any usable space and so connected with a wall of the food compartment as to accelerate the transfer of heat from food-stuffs placed thereon by heat conduction through the shelf and food compartment walls, said micro-adjustment means being readily accessible from the front of the compartment and so arranged as to permit operation of the adjustment means and movement of the shelf with one hand.

2. In combination with a refrigerator of the type having a food compartment, a perforate fixedly mounted shelf extending across the food comparment and spaced from the bottom of the main food compartment to form an auxiliary food compartment to receive articles of fairly large size, a cooling unit positioned in the food compartment for setting up a positive circulation of air in the compartment and through said shelf a vertically adjustable perforatc half shelf positloned beneath said flXedly positioned shelf, said half shelf being substantially fiat and including micro-adjustment means for moving said half shelf from a point where said half shelf substantially merges with said fixed shelf to a point where said shelf substantially merges with the horizontal bottom of the food compartment whereby said entire space below the fixed shelf may be lled with large articles all the way across the said half shelf may be selectively adjusted to any position above smaller articles supported by the bottom of the food compartment and below the half shelf and thus permit the storing of food between the lowered half shelf and the fixedly mounted shelf to thereby permit filling at all times the entire vertical space between the xedly positioned shelf and the bottom of the compartment, said half shelf increasing the mass of hold-over material within the food compartment without taking up any usable space and so connected with a wall of the food compartment as to accelerate the transfer of heat from foodstuffs placed thereon by heat conduction through the shelf and food compartment walls, and means cooperating with said adjustable means for supporting and gui ing the shelf, said shelf being vertically movable relative to said last named means and to any desired position without removal from said means.

3. A domestic refrlgerating unit comprising a food compartment provided with a plurality of xedly positioned shelves, refrigeration means positioned in the compartment for setting up a circulation of air through the xedly positioned between the iixedly posifixed shelf may be filled shelves, one or more half shelves positioned between said flxedly positioned shelves and movable in a general vertical direction bf adjustment whereby relatively large articles may be positioned on one side of a ilxedly positioned shelf whereby to take up practically all the space on that side, relatively small or flat articles positioned on the other sideof the fixedly positioned shelf beneath the half shelf and said half shelf then moved downward to a position above said articles whereby to receive a second layer of relatively small articles between two acacent xedly mounted shelves, a guide member mounted in one wall of said compartment for slidably receiving and adjustably positioning the half shelves, and means extending toward an outer edge of each half shelf and readily accessible from the front of the food compartment whereby to permit adjustment of said half shelf, said half shelves being of such dimensions as to nestle in their uppermost position within the ilxedly positioned shelves whereby to present a full storage space between the xedly positioned shelves, if necessary.

4. In combination with a heat exchange unit of the type having a food compartment, a perforate, relatively ilxedly mounted shelf extending across the food compartment and spaced from the bottom of the main food compartment to form an auxiliary food compartment to receive articles of fairly large size, heat exchange means positioned in the food compartment for setting up a positive circulation of air in the compartment and through said shelf, a vertically adjustable perforate half shelf positioned beneath said xedly positioned shelf, said half shelf being substantially flat and including micro-adiustment means for moving said half shelf from a point where said half shelf substantially merges with said fixed shelf to a point where said shelf substantially merges with the horizontal bottom of the food compartment whereby said entire space below the fixed shelf may be filled with large articles all the way across or said half shelf may be selectively adjusted to any position above smaller articles supported by the bottom of the food compartment and below the half shelf and thus permit the storing of food between the lowered half shelf and the flxedly mounted shelf to thereby permit filling at all times the entire vertical space between the xedly positioned shelf and the bottom of the compartment, said half shelf increasing the mass of hold-over material within the food compartment without taking up any usable space and so connected with a wall of the food compartment as to accelerate the transfer of heat from foodstuffs placed thereon by heat conduction through the shelf and food compartment walls.

5. A domestic heat exchange unit comprising a food compartment provided with a plurality of xedly positioned shelves, heat exchange means positioned in the compartment for setting up a circulation of air through the xedly positioned shelves, one or more metallic half shelves positioned between said ilxedly positioned shelves each including micro-adiustment means readily accessible to and operable by one hand to permit movement of the entire shelf in a general vertical direction of adjustment whereby relatively large articles may be positioned on one side of a flxedly positioned shelf whereby to take up practically all the space on that side. relatively small or fiat articles positioned on the other side of the tlxedly positioned shelf beneath the half shelf and said half shelf then moved iones downward to a position above said articles whereby to receive a second layer of relatively small articles between two adjacent fixedly mounted shelves, said metallic half shelf adding surface area and mass over that provided by the xedly 5 positioned shelves to accelerate transfer of heat units relative to foodstuffs placed thereon and to increase the hold over at all times.

6. A domestic heat exchange unit comprising a food compartment provided with a plurality of 10 fixedly positioned shelves, heat exchange means positioned in the compartment for setting up a circulation of air through the flxedly positioned shelves, one or more relatively flat half shelves pomtloned between said nxedly positioned shelves l5 and movable in a general vertical direction of adjustment whereby relatively large articles may be positioned on one side of a iixedly positioned shelf whereby to take up practically all the space on that side, relatively small or flat articles posi- 20 tloned on the other side of the flxedly positioned shelf beneath the half shelf and said half shelf then moved downward to a position above said articles whereby to receive a second layer of relatively small articles between two adjacent xll edly mounted shelves, a guide member mounted in one wall of said compartment for slidably receiving and adjustably positioning the half shelves, and micro-adjustment means having a member extending toward an outer edge of each 30 half shelf and readily accessible from the front of the food compartment whereby to permit instantaneous adjustment of said half shelf to any selective position.

7. A domestic heat exchange unit comprising 35 a food compartment provided with a relatively fixedly mounted shelf, heat exchange means positioned in the compartment for setting up a circulation of air through the flxedly positioned shelf, one or more half shelves positioned between 40 said xedly positioned shelf and the bottom of the food compartment and movable in a general vertical direction of adjustment whereby relatively large articles may be positioned on one side of a ilxedly positioned shelf whereby to take 4.; up practically all the space on that side, relatively small or flat articles positioned on the other side of the xedly positioned shelf beneath the half shelf and said half shelf then moved downward to a. position above said articles whereby to receive a second layer of relatively small articles between two adjacent fixedly mounted shelves, said shelves being relatively fiat to provide holdover mass without taking up useful space, and means extending toward an outer edge of each 5:; half shelf and readily accessible from the front of the food compartment whereby to permit adjustment of said half shelf, said half shelves being of such dimensions as to nestle in their uppermost position within the tlxedly positioned 50 shelves whereby to present a full storage space between the iixedly positioned shelves, if necessary.

8. In a cabinet having a food compartment, heat exchange means positioned within the compartment, and a plurality of perforate half shelves c.;

. extending less than the full width of the compartment. said shelves beingy slidably mounted as a part of-the cabinet, and micro-adjustment means forming a part of the shelf and cooperating with the slidable mounting whereby the 70 shelves may be vertically adjustable without removal from the slidable mounting, said microadjustment means being readily accessible from the front of the food compartment whereby said shelves may be adjusted vertically relative to the f walls of said compartment and to each other whereby to present a plurality of storage compartments oi varying sizes, positions and locations, at least-one oi any two adjacent shelves being substantially dat to permit oi' full vertical movement up or down whereby the respective vertical top and bottom positions o! said substantially fiat shelf will substantially merge with the shelf thereabove at the top or bottom thereof.

9. In a heat exchange unit having a food compartment. a heat exchange member i'or circulating air therethrough and a plurality oi hal! shelves extending less than the full width of the compartment and mounted for vertical adjustment relative to the walls of the said compartment and to each other whereby to present a piurality of storage compartments of varying sizes, positions and locations, at least one oi' said half shelves being both vertically adjustable and transversely swingable.

i0. In combination with a cabinet oi' the type having a lood compartment, one or more periorate, relatively xedly mounted shelves in said compartment. and a heat exchange member for setting up a circulation of air in said compartment. a guide tor receiving a vertically adjustable hai! shelf positioned beneath one ot said peri'orate xedly positioned shelves whereby to permit the storage ot food in a space beneath said xedly positioned shelf which would otherwise be unused above relatively small or iiat articles. said hal! shelf being movable laterally about said guide so that it may be moved to a l5 position at the front oi the food comxmrtment.

LLOYD G. COPEMAN.

CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION.

eiesue No. 19,798. December 5l, 1935.

LLOYD G. COPEMAN.

It ie hereby certified that error appears in the Aprinted specification of the above numbered patent requiring correction as follows: Page 3, second column, line 51, claim 2, for I'the" second occurrence, read or;' and that the said Letters Patent should be readx with this correction therein that the same may conform to the record of the case in the Patent. Office. Signed and sealed this .4th day of February, A. D` 1936.

Leelie Frazer Seal) Acting Commissioner of Patents. 

